Sharpe: A hero and friend
by PsychoBlonde
Summary: The war with Napoleon is over, but there are still things to do. Sharpe and Harper are sent on a undercover mission, where they are to investigate an army training facility, to see if there really is a money scam going on.
1. Chapter 1

**Yes I know this first chapter is a bit short and to be honest the longest chapter will be the last chapter but I hope it´s readable :)**

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**Chapter one**

It was an unusual warm and sunny day for being London, and the streets were packed with people, everything from old ladies to high strung nobles sitting in carriages were out enjoying the sun.  
Sharpe made his way to the gates of the horseguards´, straitening his green uniform, while gripping the hilt of his sword. Nothing good would come out of this, it was just a gut feeling he had, and yet had his gut not failed him. The only good thing was that Harper would come with him, whatever it now was, that he was suppose to do.

Walking down the long corridor, ignoring the other men in the building Richard stopped outside of the room of Lord Wellington, knocking once. The door opened and Sharpe stepped into the room.  
"Sir."  
"Do you know anything about the annual inspecting rounds that are made twice a year to every training facility we have for soldiers?" Lord Arthur Wellington looked up from his papers to inspect his colonel. Whatever people said about Richard Sharpe, he could not care less. He had been the one to make Sharpe an officer and he was damn well going too keep him as one. Sharpe was maybe not a gentleman, but he was a good officer who did not get his men killed, and they respected him. To put it shortly, Sharpe was a man who you wanted beside you or backing you up, but god help those who got in his way in a fight.  
"They are inspected so that there always will be a clear number on how many men we have in the army and to see how good they are, sir."  
"Yes exactly not that, that is the only thing." He could see that Sharpe wanted to know why he asked such a weird question. Longer did he not get, before another knock in the door was heard, and in stepped Patrick Harper.  
"Sorry that I´m late sir but the guard did not want to let me in, sir."  
"Does not matter, well continuing I do not have all day on me. There is one of these camps that we think is not being completely honest in their reports and we suspect that some of the officers there brakes some of the more important rules, there is even a suspicion of someone steeling money." Neither moved a muscle, both waiting for him to tell them what they were supposed to do. "I want you Sharpe to go there get in get as much evidence as possible, come back here and report to me. Because if there is going on illegal things I will have to know what and who is in charge of them. You will take Sergeant Harper with you."  
"Yes sir. But how are we going to get in there without getting caught especially if we are supposed to sneak around?"  
"Don´t worry, you won´t play a deserter this time." Giving them a small smile, both men grew a bit worried as they saw the smile on the Lord´s face. Nothing good could come out of this, the only good thing was that it would not be something directly life treating but Richard could not help to feel a bit down that it was not something were he would get to kill a few frogs or something in that way.

***

"Why do I have to do this?" Richard lay on a bed in a tavern by the name of the grey hound, where he and Harper were staying until they would leave in a day or two.  
"Don´t ask me how their brains work at that place, and either way it´s not too bad we won´t even be there for too long." Richard gave his Irish friend a skeptical look, but did not argue against it.  
"You´re right, then again do you really think something may be going on at that place, Lord Wellington seemed so sure of it." Harper shrugged, it was hard to know for certain.  
"Don´t know before I´ve taken a look but you know how some of them can be…" He did not need to finish the sentence, because he knew that Sharpe had immediately thought back on that snake Obediah Hakeswill a man who had claimed that he could not be killed. Sharpe had even told him after the mans death that he had tried more than once to kill the man but Hakeswill had survived which was a rarity when it came to the fact that Richard had been the one trying to kill the man.  
"Yes, you´re probably right." Nothing more was said after that. They had their orders and a plan made half by Lord Wellington and the rest was up to them how to use it.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

The morning came early that day, both men rising with the sun like they used to do while they were in Spain. They were going to the recruiting spots for the said place they wanted to 'infiltrate', the village that was going to be the recruiting place was not far away from London but still about three hours on horseback.  
While their uniforms stayed in London with one of Richard´s old friends both men clad in clothes suited for peasants riding on their horses left in the early light of the day, to once again join the army but this time on the behalf of Lord Arthur Wellington former Sir Wellesley.

They did not ride straight into the small town but instead asked an older woman to take care of them until they returned, she got six guineas for the trouble and they promised to pay more when they returned.

"Well at least were on time for once." Richard did not even dignify the statement with an answer but gave his friend an annoyed glance. Just because he happened to be late to almost everything did not mean that he always were.

"Yes, let us take a look around and see if we can get some real food before it´s too late." It was not too hard to find the only tavern in the small and very poor village. From the outside it look more like a rundown shack and when they entered they had to admit that it probably had been some kind of store room before it became an tavern.

"What can I get you boys´?" A woman stood in the doorway to a backroom eyeing them up and down as if she was trying to decide how much money they had.

"We would be glad if you would get us some crub and beer, ma´m" What ever it was that Richard did, was heaven sent because the woman´s face lit up in a huge grin.

"Do sit down, I´ll get in a minute." She ushered them down at a table near the bar and then disappeared behind the drapes.

"Well my friend I´ve said it before and I say it again, you sure seem to have a way with the women."  
It did not take long before she came back it a tray and a bottle of beer.

"Here you go, I´m Grace by the way and you? Sorry you probably think that I´m noisy but there aren´t many people from outside the village that neither stay very long nor do they which to talk to me." She seemed a bit let down, when she said the last part, but collected herself fast.

"Don´t worry lass, we aren´t in a hurry." Harper filled their glasses with beer before taking a very poor looking sandwich from the plate, giving it to Richard and then taking one for himself.

Because they had come so early meant that many still slept or were working, so when the clock struck ten and people started to come into the tavern to eat lunch. And like they had expected, it did not take long before the heard drums, and people started to go out to see what it was, or more precisely who made the noise, both men thanked Grace and stepped out from the dimly lit tavern, and out on the street that not was filled with people.  
A plump man had stood up on an old and worn bench so that everyone would see him and his filth free red uniform.  
After the man, who had presented himself as Major Wright, and had been speaking for a while both Richard and Harper had to admit that he at least knew how to speak but for gentlemen it was almost always the only thing they knew how to do right.

"Well I don´t think he will be displeased with this bunch sir, just look at them!" Well Harper was right, many of the men looked as if they would take the king´s shilling.

"Yes, the only important thing is that we aren´t found out or that someone would be bale to identify either one of us that would not end very well." After half and hour of more talk and empty promises, Richard counted to twenty three men plus him and Harper that signed up for it.

The walk to the 'facility' they were going to be trained at was quite long walk from the small village and it was not hard to see who was made of harder wood than the others. No one had yet noticed that they had served in the army before and Richard hoped that no one would notice and if they did, then they would not make too much of an commotion out of it. Too much attention in matters like these were not too good, Richard hoped that it would not take too long and that nothing unpleasant would happen or there would be someone who would recognize him or Harper.

***

While closing in on the camp you could hear thrums and men shouting, and suddenly Richard got a felling of nostalgic from the time when he for the first time joined the army at what, sixteen seventeen? He had been blinded by Hakeswill´s words and everything but now when looking back at that time Richard was glad he had joined. It had maybe not been the most happy of times but everything had paid off and look now, he was a colonel and had his own battalion.  
While they had been walking in a quick pace all the way from the village, now tired and hungry, had the officers ridden on their expensive horses looking like they owned the world. Major Wright had been in the front leading the whole thing, not once looking at the men who walked in silence, they had barley started to walk when the first orders had come, 'no talking in the lines' and so the trip was boring and tiring, well most boring on Richards part. He was too used to walk long distances in a much more hard pressed nature than a plain road and in a much faster pace than this, so it did little to him.  
Richard had to admit that the place was well kept, the 'inner yard' that was used as the training ground for the most part was well kept and in a good shape. All the men there were being pushed to their limits and many of them looked sick and tired while the offices stood on the side giving orders and drinking wine. Richard kept in a well deserved snort, these officers were exactly those who got their men killed or got them flogged so much that they deserted. Gentlemen they called themselves, there was not a word that was more unfitting for them than that word.

"LINE UP!" they had stopped in the middle of the yard, facing the biggest building, standing in two lines, when the door opened and out came five well dressed and haughty looking men all wearing the red uniforms of the British army.

"Are these all of the new recruits, Major Wright?" The man who had walked first out of the door looked with distaste on them, as if they were animals who had no worth in his eyes.

"Yes sir, twenty three, sir." Somehow Richard thought that Major Wright looked a bit nervous when he spoke but then again Richard did not really care, but one thing was clear that man was probably the highest authority in this place.

"Write up their names in our register." The man did not say anything else and continued on his way to look at the older troops.

"Write up their names captain Willford." Everyone in order had to step forward and say their names thank god both Harper and Richard were in the second row and had little more time to come up with a name, something the had not even thought about earlier. They had been lucky, that it was not permitted to speak in the ranks.

"Name?"

"Marcus Byrne, sir" Richard only heard Harper´s voice but he did not want to draw any attention to himself so his steeled his emotions and put on a blank expression as he had learnt to do so long ago. And then it was his turn.

"Name?"

"Ashton De Blaye, sir." Not looking the captain in the eyes but instead looking over the shorter mans head, Richard did not move a muscle in his face before the man continued his trip down the two rows writing up the names of the new recruits.

"Listen to me carefully boys´, because I will only tell you this once. Tomorrow everything will start, you will be divided into groups of four and depending on your group mates will determine how your time here will be spent. This is no place for slackers; you took the king´s shilling so now you will work for it. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The man gave a satisfied grin before he dismissed them.

***

Later that they when they were putting up their tent, which Richard and Harper would be sharing with two other lads, both men were trying to come up with a good plan.

"This will make it all much more difficult, especially if they will punish us all if one of us fails." Richard gave a nod, this was something he had not expected but there was not much they could do.

"Your right but for now he will have to keep cool and make sure our two unlucky friends will stay out of trouble too." Richard gave a displeased glance over Harper´s shoulder where the two lads were looking at their new uniforms and clothes they had gotten.

"Nah, those two will not be too much of a trouble nor will the rest of the men training here, it´s the officers that we will have to be careful with. I can promise you that flogging is a normal occurrence at this place." When Harper mentioned being flogged, Richard had to admit that the English nobility sure liked to flog people and it did not end very well in the long run.

"You´re probably right there Pat, but still we can´t be too careful and I want this done as fast as possible." Harper nodded, this was not what he had expected when he had gotten that letter from Lord Wellington telling him to report for duty in London at the horseguards. Not that there was much for them to do expect for doing their duty. If he just would have gone back to Ireland then maybe everything would have been different now, but he doubted it.

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Totally awesom or did it suck?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

Richard was angry, never in his life had he met a more pompous and high strung man like Colonel Clearwater not even Simmerson was this unbearable. He had forced himself to calm down before he really screwed something up. It did not help that somehow people came to the conclusion that they had been in the army before and they had to admit that yes they had been there before. Some of them even seemed scared of him, why he did not know why; he had not even yet done something to make them fear him.  
All this had happened in the range of one week and they had yet to find any evidence that something illegal was going on, well expect for that all the officers really loved to flog people and they were the biggest bastards ever. He and Harper had been lucky and in the same swing they had made sure that their two 'tent mates' did not screw up or end up being punished, they had all gotten a good look at what happened if you disobeyed orders and it really had done the work.  
Now standing on a field digging ditches in the pouring rain, Richard let out all his anger on the poor shovel and mudded ground. No one really wanted to get close to him when he was like that, which was one of the first things they learned about Ash(ton) De Blaye, when he was in a more temperamental mood and even some of the officers were scared of him because he was certainly not scared of them. The only one whop even tried to get close was Harper but he too let his friend cool down in the pouring rain, it would do little good to aggravate him now.

"Excuse me, sir, Marcus but is he crazy?" Harper did not move a muscle but he did raise and eyebrow, but when he saw that everyone on the field had stopped working (not Sharpe) to hear what he had to say, did amuse him to no end, it would not hurt to joke with them a bit.

"No you lads have nothing to worry about; he is completely of his rocker." That did not help; some of the men looked more scared of the angry blond. "No as long as you isn´t a stuck up officer who get´s his men killed, or if you´re stupid enough to attack him, but else I would say that you are safe." Some of the lads looked relieved and the rest as if they really did not know what to think. Well you can not say that Richard´s angry shout made his reputation any better, Harper thanked god that he had fast reflexes when the shovel came flying through the air.

"You son of a bitch! Can´t you even let an innocent man stand in peace without trying to kill him?" Picking up the shovel and talking his own, Harper walked back to his angry friend.

Richard hit Harper hard in the side, which in return woke with a start almost hitting Richard in the face.

"What was that for?"

"You didn´t wake, and I want this done so move your fat ass." Both men slipped out from the small tent, using the shadows to cover them when they got closer to the houses the officers lived in. This was a one time chance they could not let slip. Richard took out his ever faithful pick lock from his pocket; it did not take long before he got the door to open. Splitting up they went through every inch of the colonel´s office and the rest of the officers who had an office, but nothing was found.

"Sir? Richard? Does something bother you?"

"Yes in matter of fact there is something that bother´s me, it´s just too clean and paper less, I mean look at all the officers we have met, all of them has had stacks of paperwork but here it´s as if they don´t even exist." Harper shook his head.

"You´re just annoyed because Lord Wellington made you do paperwork," Harper declared.

"Am not!" Before Harper could response to that there was a weird sound coming from the upper floor. Putting everything back on its right place, they hurried out while trying to be as quiet as possible not to wake anyone. Back in their tent both fell asleep hoping that no one saw them.

***

The morning came early and bright. Sun shining and birds chirping, okay bugger that. It was as any other day in London, gray cloudy and wet. The rain was pouring down and drenching any one who tried to venture outside. Of course this did not stop the drillmasters from forcing everyone out to practice with their muskets, while they were standing under a roof, dry and warm.  
Richard had almost forgotten how much men could grumble and whine when they really wanted to, especially in weather like this. He cursed under his breath, did they really have that much money so that they could let their muskets get wet and destroyed, wet powder was not exactly a good thing. Well maybe it was… or else he did not know what would have happened to the Sergeant or the captain, those to buggers were almost as bad as the Colonel and would soon stand almost as high as Simmerson and Hakeswill on his 'kill list' not that he could kill Hakeswill anymore, oh how good it would have felt to just wring his neck off. It was not as if he could not do it, the jetis made it seem so easy when he had been in India. Snapping out of his thoughts by an angry yell, Richard let his eyes wander and saw how one of the new recruits accidentally had hit the sergeant with his musket. The sergeant took out some sort of whip and hit the man with it.

"Hey, it was accident let he lad go," Richard gave the sergeant a glare cold as ice, and for a moment it looked as if the sergeant wanted to run but then he remembered who was in charge and tried to give an equal glare but failed miserable.

"You, De Blaye stay out of this." It did not have the expected effect but Richard did step back, trouble was the last thing he needed. But as he turned his back on the sergeant the man did leave the poor lad alone.

"That was a stupid move I´m telling you," Harper whispered not wanting to draw attention to them any more than what they already seemed to have. Richard stopped dead in his tracks, only turning his head to look at his Irish friend.

"Well mister obvious do you not think that I knew that?" More did he not say because he could feel the angry stare of the Sergeant on his back and he just knew that nothing good would come out of it, the man just spelled trouble.

***

Richard was completely right when he thought the sergeant was trouble. Gerald Thompson was the camps 'gossip magnet' and he like many others hated Richard or Ashton De Blaye, not only because he scared them shitless but there was something else nagging in the back of their heads. Now sitting in a comfortable room playing cards with the officers, Gerald did not miss a beat to complain about the tall brute who happened to have served in the army before.

"That man De Blaye I have never, I can´t even find the word to describe him! Today he dared to stop me from punishing one of the men, and that was not the first time, does he really think I don´t have ears and eyes to see with?" the officers all nodded politely, all of them curious about this De Blaye, yes he had stood out before but he was the first to get an reaction like this out of Sgt. Thompson. Not only that he did make them nervous too, not only was he tall but there was something dangerous about De Blaye.

"So tell me Sergeant what do you propose we do about him?" No one said it out loud but all of them held for a flogging, because if it was something these English officers liked that were to flog the men.

"I was thinking of something that he will remember forever." The smile that spread on his lips was enough to reassure the rest that the poor man would not come out alive, and if he did he would not be a very happy man afterwards.

"Good, very good if you need anything the Captain will be happy to help." The colonel looked pointedly at Willford who was reading a book and only nodded as an answer, completely obvious to the rest of the world.

"Thank you sir, I will not dissatisfy you," with that Gerald left the room, smiling all the way out.

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I know it´s not that great or good but still... Reviews?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

The training was hard, harder than usual and it was not hard to see that many of them were tired and hungry. Richard forced himself to move his legs but even he was tired. The only thing that kept him on his feet was the fact that he did not feel like being punished and the other would not be able to bare it, looking at Harper who was running beside him looked as determined to finish this as he was but would not be able to take t for much longer. Panting heavily Richard pulled himself together determined not to show any kind of weakness in front of the sergeant. Hell would freeze over before that would happen.  
Richard was drawing deep breaths, but did not sit down on the ground like many of the men and surprisingly the sergeant did not say a thing about it. Even Harper was sitting on the ground, they had been driven harder and longer than usual and by the look of the sergeant they would be doing a lot more before this day was over.

***

Richard could not believe his eyes. There in front of him was the sergeant with a whip and a pistol ready to shoot one of the new recruits, who looked like a bleeding mess. Whimpering like a fool, not daring to stand up against the sergeant. It was like a déjà vu the whole place, it was as if everything happened again and again just a bit differently.

"Stay away De Blaye this does not concern you!" Sergeant Thompson gave Richard one of his best glares and pointing the whip at Richard, ready to hit. Richard did not feel very well when the sergeant's face formed into a devilish smile, his eyes glittering like a madman.

"I will reconsider all of your lots punishment for being lazy drags in today´s training if you De Blaye take it all." Thompson spoke high enough for all of the soldiers in training to hear him and he knew that he had won the battle. The rest would never let the annoying man live it down if he let them all get flogged. Not that De Blaye would let that happen, after all many of the lads saw up to him even if they thought he was a bit mad.  
As soon as the sergeant opened his mouth to speak, Richard knew he had lost, there was no way around this and quite a few of the lads would not survive a flogging. Biting on the inner side of his lip, Richard looked the sergeant straight in the eyes not letting anything betray the calm and collected picture he showed the outside.

"Okay, why not" He knew that he sounded a bit arrogant but he had no choice. Behind the Sergeant you could hear soft sights of relief. Some of them even had the courage to look grateful at Richard for doing what he was doing. The only one who did not say anything was Harper, who was wearing a concerned expression on his face.  
This could not end well.

***

Lord Wellington, aka. Arthur Wellesley was worried. Not that he would ever admit that he was worried about an Englishman who climbed the ladder in the army and an Irishman, but here he was in his office worrying about them. He had not heard a word from them since they got recruited, and so he could do nothing but wait.  
It would damage the English army a great deal if Sharpe died, but then again Wellington had faith in the man. He had not survived this long just to get killed in a simple thing like this; it was not even a suicide mission. And Wellington had to admit that he had sent Sharpe on many of those, not believing that Sharpe would make it, and then the man would return without a scratch and having yet another successful mission behind him.  
There was something weird about Sharpe that Wellington was not able to put his finger on, yes he was very aware of the stories the privates told the new recruits about Richard Sharpe, a man who rose from the ranks, a man who fought like Satan himself possessed the man and he Lord Wellington had had the chance to see it with his own eyes. Shaking his head, pushing aside all thoughts of Sharpe, Wellington continued with his paperwork. If it was one this he hated about the army, it was the paperwork.

***

If Richard would get one word to describe him with at that moment, he would use the word, annoyed. Here he was ready and done for his punishment but no he had to wait because the officers were eating dinner. Taking a deep breath Richard tried to mentally prepare himself for the pain from the 3000 lashes he would get, not that there was a big chance of him surviving. Then again that seemed to be the sergeant's plan and the rest did not seem to care. Not that it would be that easy to get rid of him, Colonel Richard Sharpe from the 95th rifles, South Essex.

Richard was dozing of when he heard whispers from the outside of the small tent he had been confiscated to until his punishment.

"He looks so calm, you couldn´t believe his in for some real heavy flogging."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Quiet you dolt, and yes not many comes out alive and then they have only got something like 700-1000 lashes."  
Richard snorted, they were really gullible. What was there to do, there was no way around it and the chance was so small that Pat would find any evidence before his flogging.

Harper drew a deep breath when he heard the drums starting to play. He really did not want to see this happen but knew that he could not leave without someone noticing and he did not fancy a run in with the slimy Sergeant, who reminded him a lot of Hakeswill. Praying a short prayer, Harper turned his head just to see Sharpe being escorted by two big and burly men. Harper could not keep from smiling softly, even if the two men were both bigger and taller than their captive, they both looked ready to run but hey, Richard could be very scary when he wanted to.  
Properly chained, Richard waited for the words that would seal his fate. Sweet mother of Christ let me survive this.

"Begin!" The first hit came fast and Richard steeled himself, he would **not**cry out, even if it meant death.

"One" Richard closed his eyes, this would take a while.

"Two." The drummer boy who had been chosen for this day had a small tremble to his voice that brought some satisfaction to him.

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"864!" The drummer boy´s voice was hoarse and dry. Richard was half unconscious, one rib was cracked he could feel it, and many more would brake before this was over. He had bit himself in the lip so that he would not cry out and not he could taste the blood in his mouth.

--

"2400!" They had had to change the flogger because the boy had not been able to hit a stroke more than 1043, Richard shifted between conscious and unconscious. His legs were trembling and his breath came out in short gasps. The pain was unbearable but he was not going to let that obnoxious Sergeant win.  
Harper could not take his eyes of his friend, never had he seen a flogging like this and he was sure that he was not the only one who would remember this for the rest of his life. Richard Sharpe was a man of honor; he does not need the noble title to gain respect, because he already has it. Never had Harper been prouder of Sharpe.

--

"2999!" The drummer boy had to stop for a moment to gain his breath back, for the last hit.

"3000!" Richard opened his eyes, his mind blurry because of the pain. Taking a stumbling step backwards when they loosed the ropes that kept him still, Richard forced his body to stay upright.  
The men that had been watching the flogging, were nor looking at him in awe, not knowing what to do. This Ashton De Blaye could not possible be human and if he was then he sure was extraordinary, he had just been flogged, 3000 lashes and there he stood so proudly. Back straight and face like cut from granite.  
Swiftly moving up beside his friend, Harper helped Sharpe back to their tent to tend to he wounds he had sustained. Broken bones in the back could lead to some serious injuries especially as they did not have a proper doctor. The officers had one but the soldiers in training had to take care if their own wounds, cuts and bruises. They had to be prepared for everything that might happen in war but the real reason was just that they would have to pay the doctor more if he was suppose to take care of the privates too.

Bloody stupid English officers.

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Reviews are always welcomed :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Last chapter! I hope it was good and that you enjoyed reading it! **

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**Chapter 5**

It had gone two and a half week since the flogging, and this was the first time that Richard had any kind of strength to stand and walk. He had even had a small fever, but he had been lucky and it had gone over after four days, give or take. Richard had felt completely powerless all along but now he was dead set on finding something that would get the officers and especially Thompson arrested and hopefully hanged. He could not keep the small sneer of his face when he thought about it, and the fact that even if he did not find anything, he Richard could still get Thompson arrested for having him flogged, a senior officer. The mere thought made him want to recover faster, and it did not go unnoticed by Harper who nowadays kept a very close eye on his friend. They had planned another brake in, just in case if they had missed something the last time. Richard had even said that they would need to get into the room where all the papers were kept when they were not being signed or used. He was not going to look over anything this time; he had already wasted enough time as it was.

"You do know that it will be impossible for us to get in there without anyone noticing it, especially if we are to find some kind of evidence." Richard chose to ignore Harper, and continued to clean his musket while he kept a close eye on Thompson. The sergeant was standing beside the captain who was observing the men and looked like he wanted to tell the man off.

"Pat, the only thing we need is a distraction that will let us in there and enough time to get some papers, and leave before anyone notice that we´re gone." Harper sighed; Sharpe made it sound so easy, as if they were going on a picnic in the park. Then again, it was such a typical thing Richard would do, so he really should not be surprised.

"And prey tell what will be our distraction?"

"Think big, Pat. Think big." Harper did not like the look on Richards face but did not say anything, sometimes it was just better to follow and not ask question. Harper shook his head; the man was seriously a hand full if not more.

***

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Pat, if this plan does not satisfy your taste then you can always come up with a better plan." Richard glared at Harper, but did not wait for the man to answer him. They were in one of the small storehouses, which happened to contain fireworks and other things that would explode if you happened to want to burn it down. This was exactly what these two gentlemen were going to do. It was pitch black and the whole camp was asleep but it was never good to linger.  
Making sure that everything was fixed and ready, Richard took the small candle they had with them and threw it into the small hut. They had barley had the time take cover before it exploded, the mere sound had waked the whole camp and the quickness of how fast the fire spread, was just a extra bonus on their part.

"Come on, we have a lot to do in one night." Harper was not sure what it was that made his colonel so happy and bouncy in some weird way, but one thing he was sure of, it would not end well.  
Harper was a bit disturbed by Sharpe´s way but he kept quite, he was not sure what it was but something was different about the man, could that flogging have hurt his brain? Patrick walked almost straight into the door when he noticed what it was, Richard was skipping, yes Richard Sharpe, colonel for the green jackets, the man who rose from the ranks and fought like a demon skipped when he walked.

"Sweet mother of Christ, has he really gone nuts?" Harper barley had the time to stop when Richard stopped and turned around to face him.

"Did you say something Pat?"

"No," Harper answered, sounding just a tiny bit annoyed. Richard shrugged, not really caring that his friend sounded annoyed or angry. It would not be the first time; his Irish fiend did not like one of his ideas but still followed them, which were one thing he liked about Patrick. Shrugging it off, Richard got the door to open and both men stepped inside. The room was filled with papers, there was only a small path in the middle of the room that was visible the rest was drowned in paper, including the small desk and chair that stood in the middle.  
You cold here how the whole 'camp' had woken and was now trying to put the fire out, before it spread too much and like Richard had anticipated, no one noticed that he and Harper were missing.

"Richard… I think I´ve found something…" Richard snatched the paper from Patrick's hand and let his eyes dart over it. A grin spread on his face.

"Well, it seems as if **something** illegal is going no at least." That was when Richard actually listened once again to the sounds that came from the outside.

"It´s too quiet, we have to go, now." Richard just took some papers that could mean something but he was not sure of what it was that Wellington wanted them to find. Using a window to get out, Richard and Harper sank into a slow run, not to tire themselves too early. Because they were in a hurry and they had a long way to run. The woman they left their horses at lived at least 20 km away.

***

The sun was rising when, they saw the run down house, and it´s broken chimney. Knocking on the door, Richard waited patiently for the woman to open. She had barley opened the door when he started to speak.

"I am very sorry ma´m but we need our horses now how much do we owe you? Is 20 guineas enough?" Harper could see that the poor woman had gotten real shock, but then again who would not? Richard did not exactly look like the most civil sized person and the money amount was not bad either.

"Y-yes, they are in the barn with the cows." She had a hard time getting the words out. After they had paid her and their horses were saddled, they left. There was no time to waste, Richard had a sergeant to deal with, and he did not want to wait who knew were the man could hide or run?

***

Richard almost knocked down the guards outside of Lord Wellingtons office but before he got to it, the door opened and both he and Harper were ushered into the room.  
"So Sharpe, what did you find?" Arthur did not look up from his papers when he spoke.

"Yes sir, we found some papers but we did not get anything direct from them." Harper handed Richard the papers who then handed them over to Arthur.  
Wellington scanned the papers and had to admit that Sharpe and Harper had done a good job even if discreetly over both men and he could not stop his eyebrows from wrinkling when he looked at Sharpe. The man looked somewhat tired and his hands were shaking even if he tried to conceal it.

"Are you okay Sharpe?" Sharpe actually looked surprised at the question, only nodded. Instead it was Harper who answered the question.

"He was flogged sir, 3000 lashes sir." Wellington almost had a heart attack, 3000 lashes and here he stood like nothing had happened. He had always known that Sharpe was though but to take 3000 lashes and not die or still lie in bed was quite the miracle. Even if it would have happened the first day they arrived, Wellington knew that the doctors would have him stay in bed at least for a month or two and tedious work was completely forbidden for a long time. Wellington gave a displeased sigh.

"When did this happen and who gave the orders, Sharpe?" This time Wellington looked Sharpe straight in the eyes, his gaze not wavering at all.

"About two weeks, and four or five days?" Wellington thanked the lord that he was so well trained or else he would have completely lost it. Sharpe really unique or maybe the right word would be totally of the rocker, completely nuts.

"That was all, make sure that you´ll stay near and next time do wear your uniform." Richard took the dismissal as a good thing, after standing for such a long time in the same position, he had felt his back starting to hurt, and that was not a pleasant thing. Well past the gates of the horse guards, Richard let out a groan of relief, that place always made him feel uncomfortable.

***

Clad in his best uniform, his sword dangling on his hip, Richard mounted his black stallion. Wellington had actually found something in the papers showing that at least a few of the officers were stealing money from the army and England. This of course did not sit very well with the army and so Wellington had chosen a few generals and colonels´ even a few captains, well you got the point, Wellington himself was there too. He wanted to see who was crazy and stupid enough to have Sharpe flogged, not one man in the army had tried anything like that after Hakeswill, but Wellington took it as a good sign, Sharpe really was not someone to play with when he got angry and so this way was much safer. It was not as if Wellington did not know about all the things Sharpe had done.

"Ready to leave, sir," a young ensign had walked up to Wellington, who was waiting for everyone to get ready.

"Good." Nodding at the sergeant who stood beside him, Wellington turned his horse for the gates.

"READY TO LEAVE, MARCH!" The sergeant waited until all the officers had ridden out from the yard of the horse guards before he followed on a horse of his own. The few privates belonging to a scotch regiment came last, walking.

"HALT!" they were just a few meters from the camp and Richard noted with a grin of satisfaction that the little trick he and Harper played, had actually worked better then he had thought. Almost all of the small huts had been burned and the big house had even taken some damage. Not that his fun lasted long, Wellington gave him a piercing look as if to tell Richard that he knew that it had been he who had done it. Forcing his face into a neutral mask, Richard pointed at the road that led straight in to the 'yard'.

***

Colonel Clearwater had never in his life experienced such a hectic and crazy day in his life, the fire had come as a big surprise and it did not help that when they had put the fire out, some of the men had noticed that two of the new recruits had escaped it did not help at all that those two were De Blaye and Byrne. Something in his gut told the colonel that those two had something to do with the fire but there were no evidence.  
Five days had now gone since that hectic day and everything was going back to the old routines. The colonel was almost happy for that, you could never know what those privates would do if they got too much time to think, the army would not need more people like those two runners.  
Doing his daily round with his under officers, colonel Clearwater did not notice the horses that were closing in on the camp nor the soldiers walking behind the horses wearing the red jackets of the British army, before they had stopped on the middle of the yard.

"What business do you have here?" He was beginning to feel nausea, these men were very clearly from the army and the man in the front on the grey horse was no one else but Lord Wellington.

"Colonel Clearwater?" There was no hint of emotions in Wellington's voice and some of the men had stopped what they were doing, coming to see what was going on.

"Yes, sir," Clearwater steeled his voice, not wanting to sound weak. He had not even finished the sentence before two men walked up behind him, binding his hand together behind his back.

"You are here by under arrest for stealing from the army."

"Oh yes, one of my officers feels like he has been wronged by one of your men and so I have promised him that he has free hands in this matter. You maybe know him, Colonel Sharpe from the 95th rifles." Colonel Clearwater thought he would die when he saw this Sharpe, not only was it the man who had saved Wellington at Assaye and had a reputation of being very cold blooded when he got angry, and it just happened to be 'Ashton De Blaye'.

"Y-yes, you get Sergeant Thompson," this time he could not stop his voice from trembling. The man he had spoken to was coming back with the Sergeant. Thompson stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who the officer was that he had 'wronged', you could say that Sharpe really did not look like a officer in that moment, more like a tiger who had found its prey. It did not help that even some of the officers who had come there looked a bit frightened by the man.  
Richard jumped down from his black stallion, giving the reins to Harper, it was time for payback. He had never thought that Wellington would let him, but it seemed like those lash marks on his back from the flogging had helped him a great deal when he spoke to Wellington about it. Richard gave Thompson a fearful smile and drew his sword, Richard heard how someone gasped behind him and murmurs were heard. Was he seriously going to kill the man?

***

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" The piercing scream that was heard, was followed with an eerie silence. No one dared to move but some of them really wondered what had there behind the big house where Sharpe had dragged Sergeant Thompson. Not that there was a single man, okay maybe Harper would have gone to look, but not even he wanted to face the wrath of Sharpe, who knew what he could do.  
It did not take long before Sharpe came back looking very pleased with himself. Some of the men looked at him with big eyes, while some of them looked down right frightened as if he would kill them next. Mounting his horse, saluting Wellington Sharpe rode away, Harper following on his brown mare. When Sharpe was out of ear shot.

"That was Colonel Richard Sharpe of the 95th rifles, and he commands the chosen men or the green jackets as you maybe noticed. Some of you will soon find yourself under his command, and some of you will maybe never see him again. Everyone will be moved to other training grounds while those who helped in this scam will be stripped of their ranks and put on trial. Good day." Wellington was not sure who looked more frightened the officers who had been in on the scam and would be put on trial or those that would be put to serve under Sharpe, Wellington could not stop from smiling for himself, usually the men liked to work under Sharpe but then again these did not know the man like those who had fought against Napoleon had done. Sending a few men to get was what was left of the Sergeant, Wellington left. He had nothing more to do there and he had more important things to do. While he road back to London a thought struck him, should he maybe make Sharpe a general? The man would at least do the job properly.  
Richard Sharpe was a damn good man and an even better soldier.

**-The End- **

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A last review? please

I know that all things haven´t been very realistic but hey, it´s a fanfiction


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